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Plastic water bottles, food containers and the insides of many of our canned goods, have been in the news for a long time. Since the 1960’s when we moved away from glass for containers we have been ingesting leached substances from the new and modern alternative. Plastic was heralded as the clean, disposable and convenient way to package and store our food. Most of us are likely to come out of the supermarket with at least bottled water sold to us in handy packs of 6, 12 or 24. Plenty for all the family.

This latest study, although not huge does raise a very interesting issue. Whilst we may have had limited exposure to plastics as children in the 50s and 60s, the generations born in the 80s have certainly borne the brunt of the plastic epidemic. Milk, juices, fruit cordials, tomato sause all came in glass containers and I made a pretty penny collecting and returning bottles to augment my pocket money.

I have moved away from most packaged foods including in house baked bread, vegetables which I buy loose and meat and fish from the fresh counters. I have also now gone back to buying my mineral water that I buy occasionally in glass bottles.

I am not intending to be alarmist but I do suggest that you take a look around your kitchen and also check out your next shopping trolley. Especially if you have children or teenagers. Just how much plastic are they being exposed to. Particularly if they drink a lot of soft drinks or water in plastic bottles.

Gender-bending chemicals found in plastic and linked to breast and prostate cancer are found in 86% of teenagers’ bodies

Almost 90 per cent of teenagers have gender-bending chemicals from plastic in their bodies, according to a study.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is found in plastic containers and water bottles, on the inside of food cans and in till receipts.

The chemical, used since the 1960s to make certain types of plastic, mimics the female sex hormone oestrogen, and has been linked to low sperm counts and infertility in men, as well as breast and prostate cancer.

A study by the University of Exeter, whose researchers tested urine samples from 94 teenagers, found 86 per cent had traces of BPA in their body.

Bisphenol A (BPA). It mimics the female hormone estrogen and disrupts the endocrine system. BPA is one of the most well-known plastic dangers today. Out of 115 animal studies published, 81 percent revealed significant effects from even low-level BPA exposure. This endocrine disruptor mimics the natural hormones in your body that triggers major changes.

Dr. Mercola explains that exposure to BPA early in your life may cause chromosomal errors in developing fetuses. It may also lead to genetic damage and spontaneous miscarriages. Even 0.23 parts per billion of BPA can disrupt the effect of estrogen and potentially harm your baby’s developing brain.

Phtalates are industrial chemicals that are added to plastics, like polyvinyl chloride (PVC), to make them more flexible and resilient. They’re commonly found in food packaging. Phthalates are pervasive endocrine disrupters that have increasingly become associated with changes in the development of the male brain. It is also linked to metabolic abnormalities, genital defects, and reduced testosterone in babies and adults.

PBDEs are chemicals that release hormones in your body and alter your brain’s calcium signaling, which is critical for memory and learning. PBDEs mimic your thyroid hormones and are linked to decreased fertility.

Dr. Mercola says these chemicals do not magically stay inside the plastic, but actually leach into the foods or beverage you put in them. The amounts of chemicals vary depending on how you use the containers. For example, when BPA plastics contain hot foods or are subjected to heat, the chemical leaches into foods or drinks 55 times faster than if they are used cold.

Old and scratched plastic containers also leach out more chemicals. Washing them with harsh detergents or frequently putting them in the dishwasher increases the amount of leached chemicals, too.

The Ecology Center in Berkeley, California has listed the different kinds of plastic toxins found in the products you use, such as:

Soda bottles, water bottles, cooking oil bottles, and peanut butter jars are made from PET (polyethylene terephthalate). These contain acetaldehyde, which is listed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a probable human carcinogen.

What is interesting is that the FDA and some of the medical sites debunk this as myth and that cooking in plastic containers and using foods stored in plastic is completely safe and has their seal of approval. Having seen so many U-turns on many issues both by the FDA and the UK medical council, especially after long-term usage of a drug or other product, it is my view that their assurances should be taken with more than a pinch of salt.

Apart from our own health it is now clear that the oceans and our wildlife are also at risk of permanent damage from our use of plastics which in many countries is simply tossed into the ground or into the sea.

You might find these facts of interest.

Landfill environments are filled with specific microbes and enzymes adapted to break down trash, landfills have been the standard solution for solid waste disposal for years.

Now, landfills are being overloaded with plastic products that can take hundreds of years or more to biodegrade.

Flexible, resilient, and durable – plastics have facilitated innovation and convenience in almost every area of American life. From our medical supplies to our food storage containers, plastic is a commonplace and inexpensive solution for many Americans. But, plastic is not without its flaws. Strong polymers in plastic are extremely resistant to natural biodegradation processes. This means that traditional plastic products can persist in landfills for hundreds of years, if not indefinitely.

There is hope on the horizon but probably not in our lifetimes as the major plastic producers look for more bio-friendly ingredients for their products. However, the majority of plastic manufacturers are unlikely to be quick to modernise their current production plants and methods. But with an industry that is estimated to be worth $660 Billion by 2020, which includes industrial components for the car industry and other manufacturers, Governments are unlikely to clamp down on and risk their tax contributions.

However, on the food related plastics we can make a difference if we move away from buying products such as water in plastic and either filter our own and use non plastic alternatives to store and carry, or move to glass. Perhaps if manufacturers see that the end user is making other choices, it will encourage them reconsider…. one can but hope.

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About Smorgasbord - Variety is the Spice of Life.

My name is Sally Cronin and I am doing what I love.. Writing. Books, short stories, Haiku and blog posts. My previous jobs are only relevant in as much as they have gifted me with a wonderful filing cabinet of memories and experiences which are very useful when putting pen to paper. I move between non-fiction health books and posts and fairy stories, romance and humour. I love variety which is why I called my blog Smorgasbord Invitation and you will find a wide range of subjects. You can find the whole story here.
Find out more at https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/about-me/

Thanks so much for putting this together, Sally. I’ll have to read it again and check out the links when it’s not so late. I try to cook from scratch which reduces a lot of problems but you still buy the raw ingredients in packaging. It’s hard to get away from.
xx Rowena

I agree Rowena. Not so bad with foods that are going to be peeled and washed well.. But meats and other proteins can be more challenging although buying from the supermarket counters or butchers is usually cheaper. You end up paying quite a bit more for the packaging.. xx

One of our pups got through the packaging the other day and managed to snaffle one chop off the foam tray and got caught in the act. These new dogs seem to have long legs, which makes it easy for them to jump up onto the bench. So, our place is being dog proofed for a bit.

You are right to be worried about all the plastic. Killer stuff. (and watch the glazes on imported ceramics for lead – which used to be in common use here, and still is in many places. Old antique glassware/serving dishes may be trendy and pretty, but once again, lead potential.
We might have healthier kids/ less mental issues (as some are overly sensitive to components of plastics, coloring, and lead) if we got rid of plastics and went back to basics.
Your observation about which generation will turn out to live the longest/be the healthiest may be right on target.

It saddens me to say it. But there is evidence already of deficiency in children of essential nutrients such as Vitamin D with a rise in the case of rickets. We have little enough sunlight in UK and Ireland but even then children in city areas particularly are not getting any outside activities.

Unfortunately not always heard at the top of the food chain but some changes have been made with plastic bags, straws and utensils in the UK but there are countries who have no intention of making laws or rules and they have millions of people who just keep using and throwing away.. xxx

This needs to be a massive wake up call for the planet Sally, I have known for a while now that estrogen replicators leaking from plastics are turning Alligators female and probably wrecking equal havoc on all sorts of fish, amphibians and sea life, So now it is hitting humans.. with falling sperm counts, cancers etc…. they have already revised the human population explosion downwards because of falling birth rates. As with everything we do Humans are squarely within our own cross-hairs. Although it might be no bad thing if our numbers reduce naturally, it is the other species that are collateral damage that concerns me!

I agree Paul and in the US the longevity estimates are dropping too. This article was 2016 and things have not improved since. “One of the fundamental ways scientists measure the well-being of a nation is tracking the rate at which its citizens die and how long they can be expected to live.

I believe every word of this, Sally. I see cancer on the increase and affecting more an more people, young and old and it is the modern life we are living filled with chemicals and hormones. My boys hardly ever drink from plastic bottles, they have good quality glass bottles. I also try to make homemade food and bread when I can.

THANK YOU for sharing this information which so many powerful companies obviously have no interest in becoming common knowledge. I am increasingly skeptical whenever I hear about a new “solution” or “improvement” being announced — it reminds me of this sentence: “Plastic was heralded as the clean, disposable and convenient way to package and store our food.” We human beings — oftentimes driven by the profit motive and/or market competition and/or ego and/or a sincere yet short-sighted/simplistic desire to “improve” something — continue to invent and sell all kinds of stuff (drugs, chemicals, devices, etc.) with little or no consideration to possible impacts on future generations of life on planet earth. I feel we have been living in a hubristic age ever since we discovered fossil fuels and started burning/refining/converting this millions-year-old shared planetary inheritance/resource into gasoline and industrial lubricants and plastics, etc. I am heartened, however, to read other people’s comments about making changes in their/our daily choices to minimize their/our use of various plastics.

Those of us who remember going to the corner shop and getting a twist of paper of sweets and the cheese wrapped in greaseproof paper, using steamed puddings in bowls with muslins were told that we were antiquated and needed to modernise. And it is true, don’t get me wrong I love my machinery and gadgets and computers. But along with the good stuff, the harmful got swept in too as there was no oversight. Only dollar signs. It is the same in the drug industry. There are drugs that keep people alive that would have died but there is also the sceptic in me who says why would you find the cure for the common cold, for AIDS or even some cancers you can keep someone alive for life at a cost of 10,000 a month, or for billions to be made in over the counter cold and flu remedies that do not cure but just mask the symptoms. Not only that by they can drive the infection into the body weakening the immune system. Anyway I could go on an on…. sorry.

Excellent info here Sal. It’s astounding the amount of people who aren’t aware of the dangers of ingesting products sold in plastic. I do my best to buy foods not packaged in plastic too and neverrrrrrrrr anything plastic in the microwave. It’s a lot to take in for many but like anything else, if we take gradual measures it will become habit. ❤ xx

Reblogged this on Retired? No one told me! and commented:
This is a good informative article and very worrying .. Something is always done too late when people are proven to be dying from the effects of chemicals and I think it is a great idea that we speak by our actions and buy liquids in glass bottles where we can …

Excellent article Sally and very worrying…I had already made the decision to make my own tomato paste for bolognese etc by using fresh tomatoes and not buying tins. So much of our liquids though are sold in plastic bottles with no option to buy glass especially cooking oils/ milk. It is quite scary for future generations … xxx

We are very definitely lacking in options. and even if you take out of the plastic and wrap in something else it is usually plastic to keep it ‘fresh’. It was fine when we used to buy daily because we had no fridge but now we work around a weekly shop! xxxx

I know…I shop every couple of days for fresh veg and my meat I buy from the local butcher so no fancy packing there which can harm your health… as I like to walk and I love the markets here. Bit the water fom the mains is not drinkable so it is bottled water and glass for the amount we use the cost would be quite high although you shouldn’t put a cost on health…I am going to enquire about a water filter though I think that would best for us here 🙂 xx

I was thinking more about a system fitted to the water supply..But Alan has just told me that someone comes round and sells crates of water in glass bottles. So he has been charged with stopping them next time which will be ideal and we can then return the bottles to him when we purchase another crate. xxx

I agree Suzanne.. and unfortunately unless we all get on board and make the changes it will make little difference.. But you have to start somewhere and certain countries such as the community you highlight are showing the way.. thanks for sharing..

I have long known about the evil effects of plastics on food and liquids. And the biaxins in plastic products make it a no-no in microwaves. I shudder to think of all the disposable diapers (both fro babies and the elderly) building up in landfills.

Although I admire your commenters who have switched to glass food storage, I am not as virtuous. Oh, vey!

We usually buy sliced cheese with thin paper between the slices, but the whole thing is wrapped in plastic. As old as I am, I’m not to worried about the effects, but I passed on your post to my son and daughter who have children, some teens, some very young. I am worried about them!